Woodside’s depth too much for PA
Wolverines allowing an average of 31 points during their 8-game win streak
NEWPORT NEWS — How deep is Woodside’s boys basketball team?
One of its All-Peninsula District first-team selections scored just one point in the first half Friday night, while the other didn’t score at all until late in the fourth quarter.
That didn’t matter at all as the Wolverines blew out Princess Anne 66-29 in a Class 5 state quarterfinal at Denbigh High. The victory sends the Wolverines (21-5) into a state semifinal matchup at 8 p.m. on Monday against Maury at Heritage High.
Mykel Jenkins, who did not make the all-district team, led the Wolverines with 21 points. In truth, that’s not a surprise as lots of players other than all-district picks Trevor Smith (nine points) and Jermaine Detrick (three) have been game scoring leaders.
“I’ve said this before, but we’ve had seven guys go for 25 or more points this season, so it can be anybody’s night,” Wolverines coach Stefan Welsh said. “They’re mature enough that if somebody’s got it going, they’re going to feed him.
“This is probably the most unselfish team I’ve ever been a part of.”
And it wasn’t a surprise that Jenkins was the guy to come up big. In fact, Welsh told Jenkins, “This is going to be your night, so go own it.”
Jenkins did just that. He served notice by scoring the Wolverines’ first four points as they sped to a 16-5 lead after a quarter. Jenkins really warmed up in the second quarter, scoring 12 points.
Moments after scoring a basket, he stole the ball, drove downcourt and attempted a spectacular windmill dunk. It bounded off of the rim, but, unfazed, he stole the ball again a minute or so later and wisely put the ball down with a two-handed slam.
“This is the performance we’ve been waiting on,” Welsh said. “When we beat [Washington, D.C., team] Gonzaga, which was No. 5 in the country this season, he was absolutely unbelievable.
“With him transferring in this year [from North Carolina], it’s been a transition for him. I haven’t backed away from him, and his body is adjusting to our daily grind of the way we do things.”
Jenkins’ defense epitomized Woodside’s effort. The Cavaliers (19-7) led briefly at 4-2 but missed their next 14 shots against the Wolverines’ irrepressible man-toman defense.
“I thought we were early in all of our rotations,” Welsh said. “I thought we did a good job stunting in our gaps and getting back to our man. I thought we did an excellent job with our back-side help.
“I thought we did a good job of challenging shots without fouling. I thought we did a good job of walling up at the rim.
“It was a sound defensive game.”
Amazingly, the Wolverines have allowed an average of only 31 points per game during their current eight-game win streak.
“I’m starting to believe this is who we are,” Welsh said.
Only two teams have scored more than 40 points in those eight games. One of them is Maury, which the Wolverines defeated 56-41 for the Class 5 Region A title.
“We know that we’ve got to bring it, we know that they’re going to come and play hard, and we know that it’s going to be a good game,” Welsh said. “But we’re eight quarters away from winning the state championship, and quarter by quarter is our main focus.”